Curran Theatre - The Golden Bay Times

Oh, Mary! by Cole Escola is a wildly funny, irreverent comedic play that riffs on history with a big wink and a loud laugh. Set in the weeks before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, it imagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a bored, booze-loving, drama-hungry woman who would rather be dazzling crowds on a cabaret stage than sitting in the White House doing her First Lady duties. As Mary flounces, rants, schemes, and drags everyone around her into absurd situations, her frustrated husband tries bizarre tactics to keep her out of trouble, including hiring an acting teacher who soon becomes part of the chaos. The 80-minute one-act theatrical romp balances slapstick, sharp dialogue, and off-the-wall character work to create an uproarious portrait of one of America’s most iconic figures that’s as outrageous as it is clever. Far from a straight-up history lesson, this period spoof uses sharp camp, unexpected twists, and playful reimagining to invite audiences into a world where ambition, desire, and personal frustration collide with Civil War era Washington in the most outrageously entertaining ways possible, leaving you grinning and curious about the next wild turn.